To paraphrase the old saying, “Leadership is like the weather – everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it.” People seem to accept leadership, good or bad, as a cosmic fate that simply happens. If we benefit, great. If we suffer from inadequate leadership, it is perceived as bad fortune and unavoidable.

I do not accept those premises. Unlike the weather, we can do something about leadership

Leadership development is one of the single most important strategic activities undertaken by business entities throughout the world. To ignore the need for excellent leadership practices is an invitation to catastrophe.

Here is what the science says:

Studies show that 50% of all businesses that fail, fail due to bad leadership

Effective leadership can increase net margins 1% – 3%

I think there are three main fallacies that directly contribute to poor leadership development:

“…I am a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win…” – Donald Trump

I really have no additional comment here because I would veer away from leadership and into politics. That would be of no use to anyone.

It pretty much speaks for itself.

In my opinion, I think the best way to view Donald Trump’s current activities as not a part of a presidential campaign, but more as an exercise in branding. He has never had as much press coverage as a businessman than he has had a potential nominee.

I am working on a paper with my daughter this week and we are discussing brand awareness and brand recognition. It came to my mind in those discussion that even Donald Trump (a very, very , very, very rich man according to Mr. Trump) could not afford to buy the amount of media coverage generated in print, broadcast coverage, Internet chatter, and water fountain discussion that has been created since the start of his GOP campaign.

He really has no interest in politics, his interest is in starting a discussion… any discussion that features his name. His flame war attacks keep his name at the top of every news cycle. It is a genius manipulation of the media (well… genius in a way that makes me want to shower).

His return on this investment will be far above even his wildest imagination.

I really want to be that motivator guy. You know, the guy that runs around and pumps everyone up. I want to throw those pithy motivational quotes that seem deep and meaningful, but also contradict each other. I’d sound really wise and clever. I wouldn’t give actionable advice, but that’s OK since I couldn’t be held accountable.

<sigh>

I can’t be that guy, at least not this time. Stick with the evidence because the numbers don’t lie.

I hate to do it, but I have to throw statistics at you…

In 2012 US companies spent $14 billion on leadership development.

In a 2014 benchmark study from Development Dimensions International, corporate leaders and HR professionals were asked to judge the overall quality of their organization’s leadership.

40% of leaders judged the quality as high.

25% of HR judged the quality as high.

If you accept the judgement of the people responsible, then between 60% and 70% of $14 billion is wasted.

There are a lot of articles and posts written on the subject of leadership style. Most of it is based on a faulty premise: you are your leadership style and your leadership style is you.

In other words, people are led to believe that they are defined by their leadership style and they should hone that style into a sharp cutting tool. However, a sharp tool is not always the best for every job.

I had a podcast interview with Jonathan Pritchard over at A Life Well Designed. Jonathan uses design principles to analyze challenges in life and business, then applies design techniques to find elegant, effective solutions.
(For some reason I had a tough time enunciating, but I hope the messages were clear.)